Into the Darkness
by horsie890
Summary: The newest member of the Organization is possibly the strangest yet. She has a mysterious, untapped power and a tortured heart. Will an old friend and a new enemy help her to forgive and forget? [Only rated for consecutive character deaths.]
1. Chapter 1

"So you finally found a new member? What took you so long, Zexy?"  
"Don't call me that. It's not like there are that many people who want to join. They're hard to come by."  
"Understandable. They all know that if they do one thing wrong, well, I get to kill them. Yay me."  
"You could say that."  
"So, who is it? Anyone I know?"  
"Don't think so. I don't even know what element she controls. I think she just needed something to do."  
"Wait…it's a 'she'? WHY?"  
"Hey, I said it was hard."  
"And you have no clue what element she controls? Is she evil or good or what?"  
"Actually, I have no earthly idea. She smiles a lot though."  
"I guess we'll have to change that then, won't we?"

* * *

The girl wandered down the dirt path, excited about where she was going. Okay, so she didn't know _exactly_ where it was, but the road had to end somewhere, right? Her tightly curled auburn hair flowed softly behind her as she strolled down the path. Her eyes were a hollow, coffee-colored brown, though a metallic ruby tint lay behind it, as if something lay hidden inside. The sky was a soft blue, but the sun was nowhere to be seen. She failed to notice.

All at once she came upon a castle. It seemed out of place in the calm field, but she knew that this was where she needed to go. The girl wandered up to the tall door, and it opened for her. She stepped inside, letting it slam behind her. The second she stepped inside, she felt an intangible chill that rested upon everything. She glanced around, then walked down the hallway. Her first observation was that the color white was everywhere. The glare from the overhead lights burned her eyes, and she blinked a few times to adjust to it.

"So. You're finally here." A person faded into the hallway, wearing a long black robe, similar to her silver one. "Who are you?" she asked. "My name is Axel. So, who are you?"

"My name is Laska."  
"Good, it's short. Do you control an element, or just magic in general?"

"Well, it's a little hard to explain. It's more like a story, really."

"Wait..." He turned toward the door she had just come through, eyes narrowed. "Oh, perfect, that little freak is here. You'll have to tell me later. Your first task is to fight the first spiky-brown-haired kid that walks through that door. Don't kill him; that's my job. Just show him what the Organization tried to tell him last time." He faded away, almost like teleporting, leaving her alone. 'But what if I don't know what that was? Oh well. Just have to find out.' She turned to face the door, hearing voices outside. "Sora, you sure this is it?"

"Not exactly, but it sure feels right. Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's go!" The doors opened, and three people—rather, one person and two animals—stood there. The human was a boy with brown, spiked hair, and a mostly red outfit with giant yellow shoes. There was a short duck next to him, looking Laska in the eye confidently. The third was a dog whose height could almost match her own; he held a knight's shield. 'This kid must be Sora.' He looked up at her quizzically. "Do I know you?"

"No, and I don't know you. That much. All I know is that we're supposed to fight. I should warn you, though," she said, summoning her power. She began to glow with a ghostly silver fire, and an arctic gust swept through the room. Laska glanced up at Sora, her once dark eyes the color of liquid moonlight. "I'm good."

"Yeah, well, so am I. And no one is standing in my way of finding Riku and King Mickey!" Sora pulled out the Keyblade, and held it in a battle position.

"Firaxa!" shouted Laska. She channeled the magic into a spiraling tunnel, and aimed it at Sora. He took the full force of the blast and slammed into the wall. He slowly stood up, trembling weakly. "So, what do you call that kind of magic?" Laska smiled mysteriously. "You'll know soon enough."

"Don't worry, Sora! We'll help!" shouted Goofy and Donald. Laska merely waved a hand at them, and they were encased in the cold fire. "That's much better."

The relentless onslaught of magic began. After enduring wave after wave of attacks, Sora, who was finally given a chance to attack, didn't take it. He was tired. "What, I finally stop, and all you do is stand there? You don't make this very fun for me!" said Laska, crossing her arms and frowning. "Well, I guess that's good for now. I was told not to kill you, and I'd really like to follow that order, especially before Axel gets to you." Sora stood, recognizing the name. "Axel…I know that person from somewhere. From here, I'm sure. Do you know him?" But Laska only gave another enigmatic smile, then vanished in a flash of flames.


	2. Chapter 2

Axel had been watching the entire fight. "Hmm…she actually gave Sora a fight. No one ever does that," said Zexion, standing by Axel.

"Especially not you," Axel said sourly.  
"You're just mad because she could have beaten Sora and didn't- listening to _your_ orders, I might add- and that you couldn't on the first try."

"I let him off easy! And I didn't know she controlled fire."  
"It's the strangest fire I've ever seen. Silver. I wonder what it means?"

"Why don't I just tell you?" Laska stood there, realizing that they had seen the fight.

"Well, didn't have time earlier, now's your chance. What was that power you used? And that spell was quite intriguing as well." Laska glanced at the two, her smile fading, eyes overcast with a distant look, with her voice taking on an indistinct tone. "The Spirit Flame. It was created from the souls of those whose lives were taken by fire. They live in eternal pain, for they are not at peace. I suffer because of their pain. The Spirit Flame holds great power, but also great sorrow. It is my greatest weapon, but also the reason I walk the twilight. Otherwise, I would be on the side of light. As far as the spell goes," she said, pausing to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, "I learned it when I was studying the science behind all of the magic that people use. If you have enough power, you can double or even triple the strength of a spell such as Firaga or Aeroga. Any of them can be enhanced. Firaxa is my personal favorite."

"Gee, Zexy, you should know by now that I hate sharing."

"He controls fire too," said Zexion, ignoring Axel's comment.  
"I'm not trying to compete with you," said Laska quickly, not wanting to start a rivalry in the group. So far, these two were her only 'friends', and didn't want to be a loner.

"We do need to focus on getting the Keyblade, Axel," said Zexion.  
"I know that. It was my idea—sort of—remember?"  
"Whatever you say."

* * *

Laska soon met the other members in the Organization—Lexaeus, Larxene, Marluxia, and Vexen, among others. She learned the story of the Keyblade and its master, and how badly the Organization wanted it. She noticed one thing that disturbed her slightly: everyone wore black. All of them were on the side of evil. She seemed to be the only person who wandered in the twilight, feeling light and darkness--except for one of Sora's friends.

"Riku?"

"Yeah, he should have been the Keyblade master, but Maleficent got to him first."

"Oh."  
"He's not going to get away with it though. Now that Sora's looking for him, as well as Mickey, then if we can find them first, we can make Sora do what we want."  
"How would we get those two here?" Axel smiled darkly.

"I'll take care of that. You just keep Sora busy." He teleported away.  
"You know, nobody ever gets used to him doing that," said Larxene absentmindedly. Laska turned to face her, an inquisitive look on her face. "So, how did this whole Organization thing get started?"  
"It's a long story," said Zexion.  
"I've got time."

* * *

Sora had since recovered from the fight against Laska. "I haven't lost that bad since…since…ever! I can't believe I didn't do anything!"

"Calm down, Sora. She didn't even give you a chance to attack," said Goofy.  
"If I couldn't even win on the first floor, how am I ever going to save Riku?" he asked with a negative tone.  
"She just got lucky. You were being nice," squawked Donald. Sora looked away, face downcast.  
"Yeah, I guess."

"Don't work yourself up over it. You'll beat her next time."  
"You know what? You're right. As long as I remember what I'm fighting for, I'll never lose!"  
"That's the spirit!" Donald and Goofy said together.

"Oh, how cute. Remind me to throw up later." The person faded into the hallway.

"What do you want?"  
"Nothing right now. Just thought you might want to know that we have your little pal Riku. And that retard mouse, now what was his name?" he said, glancing at the ceiling as if the answer floated above his head. The other three gasped. "King Mickey!"

"Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me. Anyway, if you want them back, just hand over the Keyblade and we'll let them go."  
"No way! You'll never get the Keyblade!" shouted Sora defiantly. Axel merely smirked.

"Fine then. More fun for me." He surrounded Sora with a wall of fire. "You'll soon regret your decision, Keyblade master." He hurled a chakram at Sora, who barely dodged it.  
"Is that all you've got?"

"I'm sure you'd like that, but no. In fact, I think I'll show you a little trick a friend of mine told me about." Axel summoned his power to a high level, but not necessarily the limit, then shouted, "Firaxa!"

The results were disastrous.

The second he said the spell and tried to attack Sora, he immediately knew he wasn't powerful enough. He tried gathering more energy, but it wouldn't work. And he couldn't stop the magic. As a result, the spell didn't have nearly as much power as it should have, and Sora was only slightly charred, which Donald quickly remedied with a curing spell.

Axel, however, was badly shaken, and collapsed forward on the floor on his knees.

"What the…why wasn't it as powerful as the one Laska used?" he muttered to himself in confusion, arms shaking slightly.  
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. You'll have to do better than that if you want to even think about getting the Keyblade," said Sora victoriously. Axel could just imagine the cheesy triumphant music in the background.

"This isn't the last time we'll meet, Sora," he snarled viciously before teleporting away as fast as he could. Sora, meanwhile, was wearing the most goofy, heroic smile anyone could ever imagine.


	3. Chapter 3

Laska sat in her new room, meditating. On the floor in front of her stood a short silver candle, unlit. A thought lazily drifted through her empty mind, and the candle sharply sparked to life. She heard it, but tried to ignore it so she could accomplish her main task. Reaching out one hand, she lightly touched the flame. It didn't burn her at all. In fact, it made her stronger and sent weak bolts of energy up her arm. She slowly lifted her hand, hoping the flame would follow. She had attempted this many times before, but it always ended badly. She couldn't control fine amounts of magic, only large amounts. Laska swirled her wrist in an elaborate spiral, and felt the smoke from it drift up into the air. She could hardly contain her excitement and remain focused at the same time. She was almost able to separate the flame from the candle and control it with both hands. Just when she was about to, there was a thunderous knock on her door. Her eyes shot open, and the sudden burst of emotion caused the flame to grow and the candle to explode. She recoiled in shock, eyes wide.

Laska then remembered the person at the door. She stood up and brushed herself off, then opened the door. Axel stood there, looking puzzled from hearing the explosion.

"What happened in here? I knocked on the door and there was this loud noise..."

"You scared me half to death. I was trying to practice my magic while I was meditating, but you really startled me and it kinda…blew up in my face, so to speak," she said, watching some melted wax drip down the wall.

"Sorry," said Axel emotionlessly. Laska sighed, sitting on her bed while looking at the floor.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know."  
"Why were you meditating, anyway?" She glanced up with morose eyes.

"Because I can't control really small amounts of my magic. It's just too powerful. I can sort of release a large amount of it all at once, but I can't control little pieces of it. If I could, then I'd be a lot better fighter."

"Okay…anyway, I tried using that spell you told me about."  
"And?"

"And, it _almost_ worked."  
"But…"

"But not quite. It drained all of my energy really fast." She gave a quick laugh, then noted the serious look clouding Axel's slightly frustrated face.

"Sorry, but I'm not that surprised. It took me a few years before I figured it out. Remember how I said it's like tripling the strength of the third level of spells? Well, that's putting it mildly."

"But how did you get your power up to that level?"  
"It was already there. I just had to learn how to control it. I'm not much of a control freak, you know." Laska stood up to face him.

"Don't worry. You'll get it. I believe in you." She smiled confidently, watching as he teleported out of the room, glancing at her like she was insane. Gazing around the room, she realized the wax was everywhere. "Aeroxa!" A tornado swept through the room, putting things back in order and sweeping away all the wax. 'I almost got it. So close…I'll try again. I have to get it right. I made a promise, after all.'

* * *

'How in the world could anyone be that powerful? Even _I'm_ not that strong! It doesn't make any sense…' thought Axel as he trudged down the hallway of the ninth floor. Where he was going and why he didn't just teleport there, he didn't know. Besides, he needed thinking time. He recalled Laska's words. _"It took me a few years before I figured it out."_ 'It shouldn't take me nearly that long. I'm already powerful.'

* * *

'I just couldn't tell them the real reason why I'm in the twilight,' thought Laska. She sat on her bed, examining the bracelet strung around her right wrist. It consisted of several pearly blue beads, each containing a swirling mass of clouds and strands of sparkling copper glass. It was a symbol of a friend's long-ago promise...

He handed her a thin blue bracelet. "Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!"

"It's not perfect, I couldn't really make all of them perfectly round, and the glass got a little lumpy sometimes, and the color didn't come out the way I planned it, and-"

"Will you shut up? I love it. It couldn't be more perfect." 13-year-old Laska knew that if _she _didn't stop his rambling, it would never stop. She tried to get the bracelet on by herself, but dropped it. She picked it up and tried again. Her friend held it on her wrist while she did it. When it was latched, he didn't let go of her hand until he realized he still held it, then quickly released it. Laska, ever oblivious, didn't notice. "Thanks. I'll never take it off, because I might not be able to get it back on!" she said with a laugh. She stared into his pale blue eyes, and saw the sadness that lay behind them. "I don't want to leave. I can't."

"It's alright. I'll see you again…won't I?" she questioned hopefully. He smiled at her warmly, grasping her hands in his. "Of course. I promise."

* * *

But she never did. He died in a fire the next day. Laska had been devastated, and cried for about a week. The real reason she walked the twilight was because she controlled his soul. The real reason she wanted to master her power was in hopes that she would be able to bring him back to life. Of all the souls she had power over, his was the only one that mattered to her. The bracelet was a constant reminder of his promise. Even though now she couldn't remember what happened, the pain always lurked in her heart. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey guys, I just remembered something," said Sora as he, Donald, and Goofy walked along the third floor hallway. "And what might that be?" asked Donald in his high-pitched voice. Sora looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to figure out best how to describe it. "Well, it seems like ever since we've been in this place, I've felt a sort of high-level energy. Almost like it's someone's power."

"I've noticed that too!" exclaimed Goofy. Sora nodded.

"And I think that maybe, it might be King Mickey or Riku!"

"You might be right!" said Donald, jumping into the air.

"Actually, you're completely wrong. But you get points for trying," said a soulless voice. Riku stood in the hallway with an emotionless look on his face. "Riku!" shouted Sora, running toward him at top speed. Riku reacted by holding the sword up and forcing Sora to draw the Keyblade and protect himself. They were caught in a deadlock for a second until Riku threw him back onto the hard marble floor. "Riku? What's wrong with you?" asked Sora as he slowly stood up.

"I don't want you near me."

"But Riku-"  
"I said leave me alone! How hard is that to understand?" he said harshly. "If you want to fight me, then fine. You'll lose anyway."  
"But I _don't_ want to fight you! We've been searching for you for so long! What's come over you?" said Sora in complete shock.

"You obviously didn't look hard enough! After you left this castle, I knew you'd probably gone back to see Kairi. But I always believed you'd come back to find me. I guess I'm stupid for that. I'm clearly not that important to you. You just forgot about me! We're supposed to be best friends! And you had the nerve to show up _now_? No. You completely left me here. For that, Sora, you'll pay with your life." The room grew dark as Riku shot into the air, hiding in the shadows. Sora held up the Keyblade, although he was still unable to block Dark Aura. Riku had become swifter and stronger than before, and it was all Sora could do to protect himself. Axel and Laska teleported in at the same time, remaining unseen in the black fog. "What a coincidence," muttered Axel, leaning back against the wall. Laska did the same.

"What's going on?" questioned Laska."Basically, Sora has the attention span of a goldfish and forgot about Riku. Riku's seriously ticked now, and we've just been keeping tabs on them to make sure they don't kill each other."

"That works." Riku used Dark Break, and landed a huge slice on Sora, causing him to bleed profusely. Axel stepped forward, tearing a rift in the solid darkness. "Alright Riku, that's enough." Riku teleported away. The darkness dispersed, and Axel smirked at Sora.  
"Normally, I would try to kill you right about now. But since you're so weak, I'll save the fun for later. Besides, you're getting blood all over the nice clean floor." Axel faded out, and Sora collapsed on the floor. Donald healed his wounds, but he stayed asleep. "Gwarsh, he must be pretty tired!" said Goofy. "No, really?" asked Donald sarcastically.


	5. Chapter 5

"Watching Riku beat the life out of Sora sure was fun. I hope there will be more of that in the future. It's been pretty boring around here, but _that_ was entertaining."

"I'm sure it was. Well, I've gotta go. Stuff to do," said Zexion, turning and walking down the hall.

"See ya later then, Zexy," said Axel, going the opposite direction. A voice yelled after him, "Don't call me that!" Axel smirked to himself. As he meandered along down the hallway, he noticed an open door. 'Laska's room…' He knocked on it--quietly this time--but there was no answer. He silently stepped inside and saw her standing by an open window that let in a chilling draft. The moonlight glowed on her silver robe and pale skin. She seemed to almost evanesce into the moonlight-except for her tightly curled auburn hair. He took another step, one that she heard. Laska turned around, her robe swishing around her. Her brilliant starlit eyes gleamed with smooth silver moonfire.

"Laska?" he said slowly, finally grasping the concept that it was actually her. She frowned slightly.  
"Don't you ever knock?"  
"I did."  
"Oh. Sorry." She immediately looked regretful and turned away, facing the window once again. "It's cold," she whispered.

"Then close the window," said Axel caustically. When she inhaled sharply, he immediately regretted the comment.

"It's not that…" she choked out, fists clenched and breathing uneven. Axel recoiled at her anger, knowing full well how powerful she was. Ghostly tendrils of magic rose out of the floor and crept towards him. The rest of the room grew darker; he was trapped.

"…it's my heart." She relaxed instantly, and the strands of power vanished. As the moon became blotted out by inky darkness, a single crystalline tear fell from her eye. It echoed solemnly in the stillness, and Axel froze.

"Why did I get rid of the memories…I'm losing more of it every day…soon I won't even remember him…" She had muttered most of the sentence, but upon reaching the last word, her voice cracked and she began sobbing and crying uncontrollably. Laska, usually so calm and lighthearted, collapsed on the floor and cried. Axel had no earthly idea what was happening, even though he could see what was going on. The small triangles by his eyes glowed brightly, giving him night vision. Laska's tears were tinted acid green, and everything in the room was in varying shades of hunter. Wisps of magic crawled out of the floorboards once more, but these surrounded Laska and protected her. Even from Axel, who, in a desperate sort of way, wanted to help. Suddenly filled with frustration, he turned and briskly walked out, leaving Laska to her tears.

* * *

"I still can't believe it!" shouted Sora, pacing back and forth across the marble floor. His eyes showed concern and confusion, but he acted extremely angry. "Can't believe what?" asked Donald. "That Riku thinks I forgot about him. I don't know how he came up with that," he continued, never breaking stride. "Y'know, if you keep pacing like that, you'll wear a hole in the floor," said Goofy.

"I remember when you did that," snickered Donald.  
"Aw, that only happened once!" he replied. Sora stopped for a moment and watched them shout back and forth before tuning it out and returning to pacing.  
"There's gotta be something we can do. I can't just leave him like this."  
"Don't worry Sora," said Goofy, breaking off from the argument with Donald momentarily.  
"We'll do whatever it takes to get your friend back."  
"That's right. We're friends! We stay together, no matter what," quipped Donald.  
"You're right. Friendship is the greatest strength we have," said Sora, looking up with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

"If only I knew what she was thinking...what lies in her heart…"  
"Oh, get a grip. She's a girl. Nobody ever knows what they're thinking."  
"Anyway, I've been sort of wanting to meet the new person you found. What power does he have?"  
"Oh, him? Well, I haven't actually found out what his power is…"

"AGAIN! When will you _learn_, Zexy? You can't hire random people!"  
"I hardly think you'll find me random you idiot," said a harsh, cold voice. Axel and Zexion glanced up. A man stood there, black hair falling in front of his face, covering one eye and framing the other. The other gleamed a deep shade of indigo blue.

"Uh, Axel?" said Zexion sheepishly. He got a hard glare in return. "This is Nexis."  
"Oh joy."  
"Hey, watch it. I can ruin your life if I feel like it," he answered sharply.

"You've already done that thanks to Zexion."  
"That is the first time you've said my full name in years."

"Don't push it, Zexy. Anyway, what is your power, Nexis?"  
"Allow me to demonstrate." He held out one hand, closed in a fist, and slowly opened it. An orb appeared in it with a black heart inside. It seemed to be frosted with dull, gray ice.

"What's that?" asked Zexion.  
"This is Axel's heart. Cold, dark, and unfeeling. Oh, what's this?" He waved the other hand over it, and a small strand of light crept into it. He half-laughed.

"It appears as though you aren't as dark as you say you are. This heart is going to change quite drastically in the near future. I won't be surprised if it turns white."

The heart suddenly turned a fiery red, but Nexis didn't notice.

"_Never_ say that I would turn good. I'm evil, through and through." He vanished in a cloud of angry smoke.  
"He knows I'm right. That's why he left. What he doesn't know is that I can only control weak hearts. I can view all other hearts, except for…_that _one…" His voice grew softer and his eyes clouded over thoughtfully. He glanced down, and Zexion noticed the blond roots in his hair.

"Well, at any rate, you probably want to know who else is here…"  
"I already do." Zexion was taken by surprise.  
"You do-? How?"

"I could see right through your heart from the day I saw you. It's not that hard." Even though he didn't like the idea of that, Zexion said nothing."I'll see you later. I'm going to go look around." Nexis faded out, the same way every other Organization member had. 'How would he know that everyone does that? Could he really see inside my heart? I wonder what he was talking about…' thought Zexion, silently walking down the hallway in contemplation. After his footsteps faded, Laska appeared from around the corner. 'I know that man from somewhere…he seems so familiar, but how? I'm almost certain I haven't seen him before. That power of his, I know I've heard of that before. Could it be…? I just don't see how.' Laska sighed to herself. 'Ever since I erased all those painful memories, I haven't been able to remember any of it. If only I could know the truth. I almost wish I hadn't gotten rid of them…no. I'm sad enough not knowing. I would probably die if I knew.' A small voice quelled the stillness of Laska's thoughts.

"Perhaps I can help."


	7. Chapter 7

"Perhaps I can help." She slowly turned to see who stood there. A thin, ghostly girl smiled up at her innocently. Her skin and dress were paper white, and her hair had only the faintest shade of blonde. The only color on her small frame was her piercing blue eyes. She held a notebook that seemed gray in comparison to the white monotone.

"Who are you?"  
"I am Naminé. I have the power to change people's memories."  
"Change…memories?" She smiled with her eyes closed.

"You don't remember? I guess you've been in here too long. I was the one who changed Sora's memories of his friend Kairi so he'd think it was me." Laska was lost.

"I don't remember. Anyways, what could you possibly do to help me?"  
"When you forget something, it's never really gone. Memories linger within our hearts, locked away, often difficult to reach. But they are always connected. One leads to another, like links in a chain. I can find those memories for you, if you want to know. But it comes at a price."

"I'm listening."

"You might lose some of your other memories."  
"Believe me, I have nothing worth holding on to. It's worth it."  
"Okay." Naminé took out a pencil and started rapidly drawing in the notebook. Laska noticed that it was a quick sketch of her.

"Why are you drawing me?"

"Just a second…there we go." When she pulled the pencil away from the paper, it glowed a sparkling white, blinding Laska. It surrounded her and she found herself being teleported somewhere. When she was finally able to open her eyes, a colorless void was all around her.

"Where…where am I?"

"Oblivion." The word echoed all around her. Before she had a chance to reply, she saw a cloud of dark smoke in front of her. The world around her changed to a forest at night, and it began to rain softly. The smoke twisted and turned until it was in the smooth outline of a person in an Organization cloak.

"Who are you?"

Silence.

The enigma walked toward her methodically, and she turned to run, but tripped over a tree root. Her ankle throbbed in pain when she tried to move. The person approached her, footsteps crunching in the leaves. The rain continued to fall slowly. Laska shivered, mostly from fear. The person now stood over her. She closed her eyes, waiting for an attack. Instead, the person reached out a hand to help her. Laska slowly opened her eyes and reached out to grasp the gloved hand, but it vanished into smoke at her touch, along with the rest of the person. Thunder rattled the trees and a spark of lightning created an inferno. It instantly engulfed the trees in flames. Screams filled the air as the heat blasted Laska. Branches crackled and fell around her. The noise was deafening. Suddenly, one shrill voice cancelled out everything else.

"Laska!"

It echoed in the empty room. She glanced around. White once again.

"There you are. I was afraid you wouldn't come back." Naminé stood there, notebook in hand. Laska realized she was standing up, instead of on the ground as she had thought.

"Did I ever leave?"  
"You traveled back into one of your memories. Actually, I think it was a few of them combined. I was lucky I got you back, though."

"Why?" Naminé sighed sadly.

"I've seen people become trapped in their memories before. It's not pretty. They freeze up, their eyes glow white, and they stay that way. Forever."

"Am I supposed to remember anything now?"

"Well, it should've worked…No matter. If you don't start to remember anything soon, I'll find out why. Don't worry about it." She smiled again.  
"Well, thanks anyway." Laska turned and walked away, fading out like a ghost. Naminé stared after her, confused and hoping the spell had worked.

* * *

"I don't see why you're making me do this." Zexion practically dragged Axel across the hallway. "Because you need to learn to get along with people."

"Why? That's not fun."  
"Just go along with it." They reached the door, and Zexion opened it, dragging Axel inside. Nexis stood there, waiting.

"Oh look. It's my least favorite person," said Axel, breaking away from Zexion. In two seconds Nexis was holding a small dagger against Axel's throat. It was attached to a band on his wrist, and it sparked with electricity.

"There's something you don't see every day." Axel secretly summoned the Fire and Wind wheels, then tried to throw off Nexis's arm with one. And with that, the fight began.

"Wait! This isn't what I had planned-" Zexion tried to interrupt, but was ignored. Axel and Nexis were too busy trying to kill each other. Axel discovered that Nexis had two wristbands, each with a dagger that shot electricity at him.

Nexis discovered that Axel sucked at fighting.

"You're not much of challenge, Axel. Maybe you should just give up so we can all go home happy." Axel became enraged, creating a wall of fire that slowly crept toward Nexis. Axel smiled, certain of victory. Suddenly, a lightning bolt shot out of the wall and rammed into Axel, knocking him over. It ricocheted off the walls again and again, each time crashing into him and shocking him with electricity. When he was no longer able to get up, the lightning bolt hit the ceiling and landed in front of him. The glow dimmed, and there stood Nexis, smirking.

"I told you so."

"Now come on people, I didn't want you guys to kill each other! I was hoping Axel would apologize…"he trailed off, glancing at Axel as if he needed permission to speak. Axel glared at him so hard, it was like he got hit with a rock.

"I. Never. Apologize." Axel disappeared without warning, leaving Nexis to enjoy victory and Zexion to cower in a corner.

* * *

Time. It passes for all and waits for none. There is so much yet so little of it. Time is the beginning, end, and beyond.

And Laska was frozen in it.

At this point in time, Laska lay back on her bed, facing the ceiling with closed eyes. She let her imagination take flight as she drifted off to sleep. First there was a sky, pure and blue, then clouds. A drop of water blurred the image, and the scene shifted to a waterfall. An invented droplet fell onto her cheek, slowly trickling back into her hair and leaving a trail, much like a snail would. Other droplets quickly followed the single one. One at a time, they covered her, sank deep into the roots of her hair, deep into her mind. But she didn't notice. Her imagination flew off into the sky. While it flitted about to random things, a tiny fragment broke off and settled onto the earth. This small piece knew only one thing, and that was time. It foresaw that time would change soon. But it could not see beyond that. It felt time continue on, and did not wish to be left behind. It told Laska, _Time to go. Leave this world, before Time leaves without you._ She opened her eyes, reluctantly leaving the dreamlike state. As she slowly sat up, a flood of memories hit her mind like a tidal wave, leaving her swirling in the wake. 'The drops of water…they were memories. Everything I've forgotten is…back.'

She wasn't sure what she felt just then. Laska held a hand to her forehead, attempting to suppress the pounding headache. Her mind raced through the mess, picking out arbitrary remembrances that vanished as soon as they appeared. Her head seemed to be clouded thick with smoke.

And then, faster than it had come, it was all gone. She slowly blinked, not quite realizing what happened. She should have known it would take time to sort out the memories, time to recollect everything. 'I should have seen that coming.' She tried to search through her mind and remember things, but it was all empty, as though she had lost more memories than she had gained.


	8. Chapter 8

Nexis walked around the hallways, looking for Laska. He had felt a strong surge of energy recently, and it seemed to be centered on her aura. He found her room, and knocked on the door. When she didn't answer, he assumed she wasn't there and turned to go, but almost ran into her.

"Hey Laska."  
"Hi. And you are…" she said, looking up at him. He towered over her by about five inches.  
"I'm Nexis. I've been trying to find you."

"Why me?" she said inquisitively.  
"Has anything really huge happened to you recently?" She froze, then looked away.

"Well, you could say that…"  
"Why don't you tell me what?"

"I just got all my memories back, then lost all of them again, plus some other ones, if that helps."  
"How strange. I thought it might be something like that. Laska, I know you from somewhere, but I'm not sure…"

"I know. I feel the same way. But how can that be? I've never seen you before."  
"I think you might know me more than you think." He held up her hand, the one with the bracelet, and fingered the beads.

"But my friend gave that to me, and he died."

"Not exactly." He pulled the hair back behind his ear, revealing his other eye. A long, deep scar ran through it, showing on both sides, and the center of it was a milky white with a black iris.

Laska was shocked for a moment, then suddenly choked him with a hug.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE ALIVE!" Nexis pushed her away.

"Please don't kill me if you can avoid it."  
"Sorry. I'm just so happy!"  
"Wow, I couldn't tell," he said flatly. Laska was taken aback.  
"Why aren't you happy?"  
"I'm happy, believe me. But I can't show any emotion."  
"Why not?" she asked indignantly.  
"Because. I just can't."

And he left without another word.

* * *

"Hey, Zexy, do you have any idea where Nexis has gone off to?" Axel's voice rose bitterly on the word Nexis.  
"Don't call me that. And why do you want to see him?" Zexion knew to shut up when he saw Axel's face  
"JUST TELL ME." Zexion backed up a step, frightened a bit at Axel's anger.  
"Oh, all right. I think he's-"

"Right here?" Nexis had just faded in. His hair was tucked behind his ears, revealing his usually covered left eye and showing the scar. Zexion cringed when he saw it, but Axel remained stoically angry. "If you need me, I'll be somewhere he's not." Axel turned away from Nexis and swiftly faded out.

"Oh, that Axel... never mind. He told me to tell you to do something, now what-"

"Go to the fourth floor exit, wait for an ugly brown haired kid to show up, attack but don't kill him, and then bring him back here?" Zexion was lost for words, but shook his head quickly and continued.

"Yeah. So, do that, and...good luck."

"I don't need luck." With that, Nexis was gone as well. Zexion stood there for a moment, and then muttered, "I wish they'd stop interrupting me…" He teleported away.

* * *

At the fourth floor exit, Sora and co. were just about to ascend the stairs, when a man silently appeared behind them.

"Leaving so soon?" Nexis asked calmly, arms crossed in front of himself. Sora whirled around and pulled out his Keyblade, Donald and Goofy at his sides.  
"Actually, we were about to leave. Got a problem with it?" Sora readied his weapon.

"Yes, I do. So, if you don't mind..." Nexis extended his right arm and pointed it at the door leading to the fifth floor. Small bolts of electricity sparked from his hand, then the door, and it noisily slammed shut. Donald ran to open it, but upon contact with the handle, he was shocked and hit the floor with a thud.

"Donald!" Goofy ran to his aid, but was also shocked by the electric door.  
"Grr...why don't you quit stalling and fight me!" Sora shouted in anger. He prepared to charge.  
"Oh, I don't want to fight you. Too messy. But I do need to do this." Nexis teleported right behind Sora. Before he could react, Nexis placed his hands on Sora's shoulders. Thousands of volts of electricity were charged into him, and he screamed in agony before fainting moments later.

"Done and done." Nexis smirked for a second. However, his stern look returned moments later, his mind chiding him for smiling like that. He picked up Sora's limp body like it was contaminated, quickly waved his hand towards the door, which returned to normal instantaneously. A moment later, he teleported away, leaving the room empty except for Donald and Goofy lying sprawled on the floor.

* * *

Sora slowly opened his eyes, dazed and confused. He weakly tried to move, but heavy shackles restrained his hands.

None of this mattered when he realized he couldn't summon the Keyblade.

"What…what happened to me?" he whispered weakly. He heard dark laughter and regretted speaking.

"It appears as though Nexis did a better job than I thought. Although I'd have preferred your friends to join you…well, it doesn't matter. At least we have the Keyblade. And now-" The person snapped his fingers, and the room lit up. Sora found that he was chained to a wheel. Axel stood in front of him.

"Let the Wheel of Torture begin!"

* * *

Laska's heart had broken all over again. Although it hadn't even been whole to begin with, it hurt just the same.

"He doesn't even _care_…" she whispered to herself. She couldn't cry; she had forgotten how. She certainly felt sad, but could not cry, could not show any emotions.

_Just like him._

She still thought it was a lame excuse.

"Anyone can show emotion. It doesn't take a rocket scientist." Laska had loved him so much, and he didn't even care. Her heart seemed to be growing faint, like it was giving up on her, on love. It weaker and weaker. 'I just can't.'

* * *

In another part of the castle, Nexis was focusing immensely. He was trying to hold someone's heart, if not for more than a few seconds. This particular one was very strong yet very delicate. It could be easily broken, thus he had to be careful. Holding out a gloved hand, the familiar transparent orb appeared in it, a faint image of a heart inside. He tried to 'tell' the heart that he was not there to control it, only to look at it. The orb, now tinted with the slightest hint of gold, allowed the heart to emerge. Its rounded, perfect shape showed a brilliant, shimmering white that awed Nexis. It would have been flawless- if not for the hideous black vein coursing through its center. The edges of the vein were smoky silver, trying to blend with the white without disturbing its pure tone. The heart radiated a soft song, one that Nexis had always found light and pleasing each time he saw this heart. But the music had changed. It was dark and depressing, almost like the heart was…

"Crying? How can that be? Could it really be that bad?"

The heart glowed red with sudden hatred, and burst out of Nexis's hand. It sent a jolt of electricity up his right arm, causing him to recoil in pain. It vanished, leaving him weak and confused. He held his left hand to his right shoulder, unable to move the limb.

"Are you okay?" It was Zexion, who had just appeared.  
" I'm _fine. _It's not like I need _your _help," he said sourly, vanishing.  
"Fine, so sue me for asking."


	9. Chapter 9

Nexis was angry. At himself, at Axel, at Laska...just angry. He stood, almost alone, in one of the rooms on the higher floors. He glared at Naminé, who continued to draw and ignored him completely. He had been sent to 'guard' her-like she was really going somewhere. He was certain Axel was off doing something fire-related, and that Laska hated him by now.

He stopped momentarily at the thought of Laska, the glare on his face softening. Was he really happy to see her again? Why hadn't he allowed himself to let her know? Not gone for more than a few seconds, the hard, angry look returned to him. 'She just doesn't understand. The last time I showed emotion to anyone, it almost got me killed. But I can't risk telling her, or she'll get all weepy on me. What am I going to do?'

"Hey Nexis."  
"Larxene," he said stiffly, regarding her presence.  
"I heard you had a fight with your little girlfriend," she said cruelly, malice creeping into her voice.  
"And where did you get that idea?"

"Word travels fast around here. I also heard that you use lightning magic."  
"Not magic, really. Just channeling energy."  
"Call it what you want. I use lightning too," she said, smiling flirtatiously, unlike her normal personality. Nexis remained unaffected, as though he were talking to a wall.

"What do you want? I'm busy being mad at the world here."  
"In case you didn't know, Sora is being tortured right now, and I was wondering if you wanted to come watch," she said hopefully.  
"That depends. Will Axel be there?"

"Maybe. I don't know."  
"It wouldn't be like him to miss out on that, now would it?" Larxene was getting impatient, but tried to hide it.

"Aw, please?" she asked forlornly, making a sad puppy-dog face. Nexis sighed, defeated and annoyed, and followed her out of the room. Naminé, never looking up from her sketchbook, switched to a darker pencil and slowly dragged it across the pale paper.

* * *

Sora was still spinning on the Wheel of Torture, but Axel was long gone.

'I think I'm gonna be sick…' he thought, face tinted slightly green. 'I wonder where Axel went?'  
"Well, well, well…this should be fun."

'Speak of the devil…'

Axel took out a miniature version of a chakram, a small ninja star that gleamed red against the white background of the room. He hurled it at the revolving wheel, missing Sora's head by an inch. Then he threw several at once, creating a frame around Sora's left hand. Sora struggled to get free, all the while trying not to throw up.

"I suggest you stop moving, Keyblade master. Because if you move too much, I might miss, and I don't want to clean up the blood." He threw another two shuriken, each hitting between Sora's fingers.  
"I have…a feeling…you've…done this…before…" Sora managed to whisper, his face now a bright lime green. Axel laughed maniacally.

"Yeah. Just a few times." The next weapon cut off a small chunk of Sora's hair.  
"Oh, for the sake of the world, Axel, stop missing."

Axel turned his attention away from Sora and onto the people standing there.

"You just can't leave me alone, can you, Nexis?"  
"Hey, it's her fault. She said torture Sora, what else was I supposed to do?" he said innocently.  
"I don't know, chop her head off?" he said with an evil grin. Larxene practically hissed at him.  
"Watch it, Axel." It was a solid threat, one that made even Axel lose his confidence for a second.

But only a second.  
He was ready to show off again.

"Watch this. It took a little practice, and I DID miss a few times," he said, noting the shocked yet blurry look of horror on Sora's face, "but it's still pretty cool."

Focusing, he summoned dozens of the shuriken, each one red with black points. Holding as many as he could in one hand (about twenty, fanned out), he set them on fire and flung them all at the wheel at once, handful after handful. Sora screamed in a high-pitched voice, one that made Nexis smirk and Larxene cackle. A blur of red, black, and flames covered the wheel. Axel held out one hand, and it began to slow. Just when it stopped, he threw one last shuriken that filled the blank space above Sora's head. Nexis and Larxene were able to see what he had done, and Axel smiled evilly. The shuriken had created a perfect outline of Sora, in between his fingers and everything.

He hadn't even lost any more hair. Axel snapped his fingers, and the shackles vanished, letting Sora drop to the floor. He glanced up wearily, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell unconscious. Larxene and Nexis clapped while Axel bowed.

"Thank you, thank you, no applause, just munny, please," he said, laughing. Larxene laughed again, and even Nexis couldn't help smiling.

"See? I told you it would be fun," said Larxene, winking at Nexis, who sighed and glanced off in another direction. Larxene pouted, and Axel had to resist laughing hysterically at this.  
"Well, I better go. I AM supposed to be gurading Naminé," said Nexis, turning to leave.  
"Why? It's not like she's going anywhere," said Axel. Nexis smiled.

"That's what I said. Maybe we can agree on something after all." He faded out, and Axel immediately started laughing uncontrollably. Larxene waited for a minute or two, and when there was no end in sight, she said, "Okay, what's so funny?"

He took a deep breath, calming down.

"You were FLIRTING with him! It was so obvious, and you had NO idea that he didn't CARE! IT'S HILARIOUS!" And he burst out laughing again. Larxene growled under her breath, summoning her weapons behind her back.

"Yeah, Axel, that's really _funny._" She flung the small knives at him, but he teleported out of the way instantly, appearing right behind her. He summoned the chakrams, then whacked her with the flat side of one. It knocked her to the floor, and she blew a strand of hair out of her face, exasperated.

"You'd think I would have gotten used to that by now." Axel reached out a hand to help her up.

"It's alright." When she was standing, he whispered in her ear, "I don't think anyone is." He teleported away, leaving her confused for a moment.

"Hey, wait, what am I gonna do with the kid?"

* * *

"There's only one thing we really need to sort out. You walk the twilight, am I correct?" said the Superior, circling her like a vulture.

"Yes."  
"Well, as I'm sure you're aware, it's a very unstable phase. You could go one way or the other with just a thought." Laska scoffed.  
"I wish it was that simple. If it was, I wouldn't be in the twilight, I'd be on the side of light."  
"Well, you seem to be a special case. You were somewhat forced to be in the twilight, yes?"

"How did you know about-"  
"I have my sources. Anyway, beside the point. You must decide whether to be light or dark. You can't remain in the twilight."

"Why not?" she said suddenly, instantly regretting her outburst.  
"Like I just said, it's unstable. Not very safe. You need to choose one or the other. Your role in the light-twilight-darkness scenario is not written in stone. It can change. But I would suggest leaning towards the darkness." He stepped closer to her, and she looked away, slightly intimidated.

"Why?"

"I know of your past, Laska. I know what happened. Wouldn't you like for the pain to go away forever? You would never have to feel the hurt again. The light is cold and cruel. One wrong step and you're out, because you're not allowed to make mistakes. You have to be perfect, and really, who is? But the darkness…" He was close to her now, just behind her, hovering over her shoulder. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, on edge.

"The darkness is patient, accepting, forgiving…it is much stronger than the light. For darkness can exist without light, even if it can't be recognized. But light can't exist without darkness, for the brighter the light-"

"-the deeper the darkness," she finished for him. 'But would it really work? I mean, my heart has hurt for so long…and what if this is a bad idea? Darkness is usually considered bad, after all,' she thought.

"Not all darkness is bad." Laska almost gasped, then remembered that Axel could do the same thing.  
"You read my mind."

"Hm…yes." He walked away from her, and she breathed out slowly and silently, not realizing she had been holding her breath.  
"So, what's going to happen exactly?"  
"You'll be sent to Oblivion, where you'll decide. Your heart will tell you what it wants, don't worry."  
"Back up. Oblivion? I've been there once, and I don't want to go there again."

"I know." She was surprised.  
"How could you possibly know?"  
"Remember--while you were there--someone tried to help you, but you didn't fully believe it was real, so the person vanished? Well, that was me."  
"Oh. I'm sorry, it's just that I had no idea what was going on, and I didn't feel like I could trust anyone, and I was scared-" He put a hand over her mouth to stop her rambling, and grabbed her hand with his other one.

"Now if you will please stop talking and let me say something, I will. Okay?" She nodded, eyes full of fear that she dared not show."Good." His hand slid away from her face, and she tried not to cry from fear. She felt she should have been able to trust the leader more, but her instincts told her it wasn't safe.  
"When I let go of your hand, you will go to Oblivion. After you have decided--dark or light-- you will truly become a member of the Organization. Remember, Laska: Darkness is your friend." And he let go.

* * *

All she could see was gray. Not the silvery, shimmery overtone she was used to, but solid, dull gray. Then there were two flashes of light that became portals: one white, one black. She glanced between the two, unsure of what to do.

'_You should go to the light one,_' said one side of her head in a high voice. '_It's what you've wanted for so long, and you finally have a chance_!'  
'**No, you should choose darkness. It's stronger, and could probably help you control your power better. You've wanted that too**,' said the other side with a voice deeper than hers.

'Oh great, now I'm schizophrenic.'  
'_Light is better!_'  
'**No, dark is better!**'  
'_Light!_'  
'**Dark!**'  
'_Light!_'  
'**Dark!**'  
'_LIGHT!_'  
'**DARK!**'

'SHUT UP!' she thought, hoping that her mind could, well…make up its mind. Then her heart took over.

'So much pain for such a long time…trying to reach the light has only made it worse. It taunts me, always staying just out of my reach. The darkness has always been there, waiting to catch me, but I always ignored it because I was just scared of its power, scared of its mystery. Well, I'm not scared anymore.'

She took one step toward the black portal, and felt more confident. Another step, and she was more certain. The final three steps, she heard the light desperately calling out to her, but she trusted the darkness. When she entered it, she felt its warmth wrap around her shoulders like a blanket, as though it had been cold when she had walked the twilight. It settled around her as she took her first breath of darkness, letting it fill her soul and mind. She exhaled slowly, trying to get used to the feeling. Her breath was silver, as though the last of the twilight had escaped her. Everything around her was of the deepest black, and she couldn't see at all, but she felt no fear. She found that she was now standing on solid ground, and took a few definite steps forward. Her senses were heightened, and she could tell that someone stood in front of her.

"Well, you're the last person I thought I would see here." She recognized the voice instantly.  
"Axel? Is that you?"

"Who else would I be? Oh, wait, I forgot. You can't see anything. Just one second…oh, and don't blink, whatever you do." She suddenly found her head being forced backwards and a strange liquid being poured into her eyes. It seeped into her eyes and burned like acid. She tried not to blink, but the burning sensation made it difficult. The second the pain went away, she was able to move her head and neck again.

"You can blink now."

She closed and opened her eyes several times, feeling the excess liquid drip out of them numbly. She realized she was looking down at the floor, so she looked up.

Right into Axel's face.

"You can see now, I take it?"  
"Yeah."

"What color is it?" She blinked a few more times, then realized that things were all tinted ice blue, making his hair seem a very red shade of purple.

"Light blue, kind of like ice blue." Axel backed up a few steps.  
"Good. Come with me." He grabbed her hand and teleported them to a floor in Castle Oblivion. She was a little dazed from the sudden lack of darkness, but otherwise okay.

"Now. That liquid stuff pretty much just changes the color of your eyes. It helps you see in the darkness."  
"I guess that's good." Axel was silent for a moment, thinking.  
"Your eyes are pretty." Laska blushed.

"Thanks."


	10. Chapter 10

Nexis was in his room, thinking and occasionally laughing. 'That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. Who knew torture could be so much fun? Maybe Axel's not that bad after all…'

A sudden jolt of energy in his heart startled him. Glancing around, he saw nothing, but almost immediately knew what it was. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he held out his right hand, palm up, and allowed the heart to appear. Instead of radiating purity and music, it was a black void that had no song at all, just an aura of satisfaction. He gasped in shock, unable to believe what it was.

'No…not this one…any heart but this one…maybe there's still something I can do.' He quickly teleported out of the room, frantically searching the castle in his lightning-bolt form, trying to find her. He nearly collided with some people that stood in the hallways, but he hardly noticed, focusing only on his goal. Nexis finally found her, just as she was leaving a room. She was startled at first, until she realized who it was. Her now black robe contrasted sharply with the colorless walls.

"Oh. It's only you, Nexis."  
"Laska, what has happened to you? This is unbelievable! Of all people, I can't imagine _you_ would've turned to the darkness!"  
"It's not like you're in charge of me. I can do what I want without _your_ consent," she said cruelly, her once soft eyes now hard and cold, with an icy color to match.

"Will you at least tell me why?" Saying nothing for a moment, Laska thought about it. Her eyes began to glow a pale blue as the room became cloaked in darkness. Nexis stood stoically, transfixed by her icy lustrous eyes, until they vanished suddenly, leaving only a faintly glowing ring in their absence.

"You really don't know what I've been through, do you Nexis?" Her voice was off to his right, and he turned, but could not see because of the darkness.

"I thought you were dead for seven years. Now, you may be thinking, 'Well, I was the one that almost died, right? That's just as bad.' You're wrong." It now echoed from far away, like she was teleporting around.

"All those years I wished I was dead, because I missed you so much." It came from another place, and Nexis was having a hard time following her voice. He was trying to find her, but since she kept moving, it made it difficult.

"I thought you were dead, and that created my power, the Spirit Flame. But I couldn't control it. It forced me into the twilight. Dealing with innumerable restless spirits will do that to you."

"But Laska, it wasn't like I gave up on you. I searched for you ever since then, and the pain in my heart is what gave me the ability to look at people's hearts. Don't ask how, I don't know."

"I tried forever to get closer to the light, because I thought maybe, just maybe, it might be able to bring you back. But no, it caused me even greater pain because it was just impossible."

He heard soft breathing behind him, and felt her presence close by.

"So I turned to the darkness," she whispered softly.  
"And what does Axel have to do with it all?"  
"What kind of question is that? Are you accusing me of something?"  
"No, I'm just saying you spend a lot of time around him."

"I'm allowed to, aren't I? Like I said, I don't need you to watch over me or anything like that. I can handle myself." The darkness sunk back into the walls, along with Laska. The shock and surprise lingered in Nexis's heart, but his face remained blank as he continued to walk down the hallway.

* * *

"I just don't understand why he doesn't like me. We have so much in common," Larxene said to Naminé, who was hardly listening. Larxene, pacing across the floor, was so wrapped up in her own problems that she didn't even realize she was basically talking to a wall.

"And I just _know_ he liked torturing that idiot Sora-" she paused, catching Naminé's attention, if only for a second.

"-but he hasn't said a word to me since then! What should I do? Maybe I could get Axel to help me…"  
"I don't think that will be necessary." She turned suddenly, ready to fight if she had to, but her gaze softened when she saw it was Nexis. He looked emotionless, but Larxene sensed something to be amiss.

"Are you okay, Nexis? You seem…different." He sighed slowly, debating whether or not to tell her what had happened.  
"You can trust _me_," she said, smiling sweetly and dragging out the word. He walked over to her, glancing at Naminé.

"I don't even know how to say it; it's still really hard to believe." He looked away quickly, sadness creeping across his face. Larxene was confused, but waited until he said something.

"She's gone."  
"What?"  
"She turned to the darkness. I just don't know what to do. If I had only found her a little sooner…"  
"Are you talking about Laska? What do you mean by finding her?"

He told her everything.

How he and Laska had been friends, how he had nearly been killed, and how he had searched for Laska for seven years.

"…and that's about it."  
"Wow. That's quite a story."

"Yeah. Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe she doesn't like me at all."  
"Well…I do."  
"You do?" he asked, studying her face. It was filled with understanding, and her eyes held no trace of malice or spite.  
"Yeah. True, you may be a little stranger than most, but I like you. We have a lot in common."

"Besides the lightning thing?"  
"…we both hate Sora?" He nodded in agreement.

"That works." He smiled for a second, then it vanished as his heart thought of Laska.  
"I just wonder what went wrong." Larxene was beginning to get angry. She had just told Nexis she liked him, and he didn't seem to feel the same way. 'He seems to be distracted by Laska. What a problem she's become…well, I suppose the only thing to do is to get rid of the problem.'

"Well, don't stress over it. Maybe she's just not the one for you." Nexis had seen this coming, but he didn't reply. She liked him; he could see that. But could it really be over between him and Laska?

_Could they even be friends anymore?

* * *

_

"Have you found anything out yet?" Zexion impatiently asked the older man, who sat at his desk, skimming through a pile of paperwork rapidly and scribbling notes on a notepad every now and then.  
"I told you, I'm working on it. People in the twilight are very difficult to deal with," he replied, slightly annoyed.  
"Well thanks a lot."  
"You're welcome. Even though I'm not done yet, I think I'm getting close to finding the answer."  
"Well, you'd better hurry up before it becomes irreversible."

"I _just_ told you, I'm working on it. Hmm," he broke off, glancing between about five different pieces of paper. "It seems that even though those who have been in the darkness have a Nobody, those in the twilight don't, unless they become dark and go back to the twilight."  
"Which means…"  
"If she goes back to the twilight, a Nobody will be created."  
"And I'm guessing that's bad?"

"Well, if they were ever to meet, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty."  
"So what do we do?"  
"Make sure she stays on our side."

"But what if she becomes a Heartless?"

"Oh, I don't believe that will happen."  
"Why?"  
"She's strong enough to resist it."

"That's what you said about Sora, and he became a Heartless."  
"Which in turn created Roxas. I know. But he is only a child."  
"Yeah, I guess. Let's just hope she doesn't find out."

Laska thought back to what had just happened. She had had her first taste of the powers of darkness. She tricked Nexis into thinking the whole room was dark, when really it was just magic. A small part of her mind chided her for it, but she pushed it away, glad that she wasn't fighting to reach the light anymore. Her ears picked up a slight noise, and she carefully followed it. It ended at a door that was slightly opened, and she couldn't help but listen to the conversation coming from within.

"If she goes back to the twilight, a Nobody will be created."  
"And I'm guessing that's bad?"  
"Well, if they were ever to meet, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty."

"So what do we do?"  
"Make sure she stays on our side."

'Are they talking about me?' she wondered silently, pale blue eyes becoming filled with worry and confusion.

"But what if she becomes a Heartless?"

"Oh, I don't believe that will happen."  
"Why?"  
"She's strong enough to resist it."  
"That's what you said about Sora, and he became a Heartless."  
"Which in turn created Roxas. I know. But he is only a child."

"Yeah, I guess. Let's just hope she doesn't find out." Footsteps toward the door grew louder, and it opened suddenly, surprising her.  
"Laska? What are you doing?" asked Zexion.

"...I…uh…"

"Was eavesdropping on us?" Vexen asked curtly, snarling at her. She rolled her eyes, ignoring him.

"What were you talking about? Was it me?" Zexion glanced back and forth between her and Vexen, as if silently asking him for permission. He reluctantly nodded, knowing that this would ruin everything. He just wished Zexion knew. Zexion motioned for Laska to follow him back into the dark room, with the dimly lit desk as the only source of illumination. Laska's eyes began to glow again, and she could see that the rest of the room was littered with crumpled up pieces of paper, books pushed into cluttered piles, and lots of pencils. She stepped over to the desk, glancing at the papers on top of it. She could hardly read any of it, so Vexen began translating it for her.

"Sorry, I write in shorthand."  
"That is not shorthand, it is a three-year-old's handwriting."  
"I'm going to ignore that. I've been doing research on the twilight and Nobodies and how they are created and things like that."  
"Any particular reason?"  
"He's a scientist, Laska," said Zexion, as if she should have known that.  
"Oh, I thought he was just bored."

"Again, ignoring it. I found out that people who walk the twilight-"

"Me, for instance," interrupted Zexion, getting a stern look from Vexen.

"People who walk the twilight do not have a Nobody, unlike those who are a part of the darkness. Therefore, until recently, you did not have a Nobody. When you chose the darkness, I believe the light created a Nobody version of you, but it hasn't appeared yet. If you were ever to meet up with this Nobody, it would combine with you and you would be in the twilight again, or you would vanish and it would take over, depending on who has the stronger heart." She nodded slowly, trying to understand. Even though he talked somewhat slower than other people and clearly pronounced every word, she had a hard time following everything.

"So you're saying there is an exact copy of me that is part of the light, and depending on if I was evil enough or not, I might get taken over by this Nobody?"

"Well, if you must put it simply."  
"Why didn't you say so? You have to add extra words and stuff like that. So muddy, just get the point."  
"I told you, scientist, must add extra words; it's part of the job description."  
"Most importantly, you can't get steeped too far in the darkness, or you'll lose your heart to it," he said, as if he hadn't heard Zexion's comment.

Laska suddenly became worried, her brain racing to understand everything.

"Uh, guys, I think I should go. Have to think about all this, you know." She vanished, leaving both of them confused.  
"I think you scared her away."  
"I'm getting too old for this," he said with a sigh.

* * *

'So if my heart isn't strong enough, I could either become a Heartless, or my Nobody could take over and _then_ I'd become a Heartless. Well, I really don't like my options here.' Laska strode down the corridor slowly, collecting her thoughts. The enormity of the situation hit her, and she realized just how grave it could become.

'I could die, just because of the darkness. I chose it over the light, and now it could kill me. I don't deserve to have a heart. Maybe…maybe there's a way I could give it up. My Nobody would be able to live in the light, just what I've always wanted. Even if I wouldn't realize it as a Heartless, maybe it would make my heart happy. Finally, it would be at peace, after so much pain and torture.' She sighed deeply, lungs filling with cold air.

'But what about Nexis? Does he still love me after what I did? Does he even _like_ me? And then there's Axel. He's really nice once you get to know him. So confusing…' She held a gloved hand to her forehead, trying ward off the oncoming headache. 'How could anyone love me anymore? I've caused everyone so much pain; I _deserve_ to become a Heartless. I guess that's it then. But first, I have a score to settle.' She teleported out of the hallway and into the Superior's office.

"Well, hello there Laska. What brings you here?" he said calmly, ignoring the enraged look clouding her face.

"Don't talk to me like that you jerk!" she snapped, angry at his nonchalance. He chuckled lightly.

"You've come to complain, I see. Well, I'm afraid there's not much I can do, it's your own fault you chose the darkness. If you become a Heartless, it's not my problem." She stood angrily, fists clenched, resisting the urge to kill him right there.

"No, you made me do it. You're the one who told me to 'trust the darkness' and that 'darkness is your friend'. Well if I become a Heartless the first thing I'll do is come after you."

"You're completely wrong, Laska. You chose the darkness a long time ago, even if your heart fought for the light. Don't you remember how you could see well in the dark even before you knew what had happened to Sora? Do you remember how many times you've questioned whether trying to reach the light was worth it? I do. I know more about the darkness than most would care to know. After all-" he paused, pulling the hood off of his head to reveal shoulder-length, flowing silver hair, an evil smile with gleaming white teeth, and catlike orange eyes.

"-it made me what I am today."


	11. Chapter 11

"So, this is what the Superior looks like."

"Yes." The eyes pierced her soul, able to see straight through her. "Although I'm sure Axel never told you what Ansem looks like, or rather, _looked_ like. Then again, there are a lot of things he hasn't told you. Even if he may not know what all of them are."

"Shut up! Axel's completely honest with me."

"Axel doesn't know the meaning of honesty." He still spoke calmly, seemingly oblivious to her boiling rage. Unable to contain her anger any longer, Laska lashed out at him with a blast of silver fire. He teleported out of the way easily, but she attacked again, forcing him to defend himself. He appeared behind her and grabbed her arm, but she wrenched it away and surrounded him with swirls of magic. She summoned the staff to help her fight.

"I should warn you that attempting to fight me is futile." He appeared from the mists and summoned several Heartless to attack her. She dispensed of them with one attack, but more appeared. 'Why are they attacking me?' she wondered, fending them off. 'I'm on their side.'

"Ah, you _were_ on their side. But you have begun to refuse the darkness, and they can sense it. They want your heart Laska. They want your power." As if echoing what he said, a small Heartless jumped at her, eager to rip her heart out, but she knocked it away. The others glared at her hungrily.

"I think they would like your heart even better. It's so full of darkness that it would make them really powerful, and who doesn't want that?" she said, trying to use his own tactic against him. The Heartless slowly advanced toward him, but he used his control over darkness to send them back to Laska. She blew them away with a large gust of wind, and used Stopga on Xemnas before he had a chance to attack again.

"Now that that's over, I can finally talk to you," she said, stepping over to his frozen form. The orange eyes still glared at her, but she glared right back with eyes of the opposite color.

"You know just as well as I do that I wouldn't have chosen the darkness if it weren't for you. I had one chance to reach the light-one chance. And you destroyed it. So you're going to pay." She used her magic to change the shape of the staff so it hard a knife at the top.

'If you didn't know, I have no heart. I am a Nobody. If you destroy me it will only feed the Heartless, just as you said,' he thought desperately, hoping she wouldn't do what she was planning.

"Yeah, but that won't save you. I can still use darkness."

'You're a hypocrite.'

"Shut up." She held the staff towards him, then pulled back and lunged.

* * *

Zexion was still annoying Vexen as he researched Laska's predicament, but his eyes were starting to grow heavy. Watching someone read for hours on end wasn't exactly exciting, even if you had nothing else to do. Suddenly, his head snapped up in confusion, eyes wide.

"Can you sense that?" he asked Vexen worriedly.  
"Sense what?" he muttered, hardly listening. He had grown to ignore most of Zexion's comments.  
"A really strong scent just faded. It's gone. And I don't think you'll like it if I tell you who it was."  
"I'm trying to focus, so just tell me and get it over with."

"Xemnas." It was Vexen's turn to be shocked.  
"You're kidding. Who could've possibly killed the Superior?"

"Take a wild guess." Vexen took off his reading glasses, folding them and setting them on the desk. He stood and briskly walked toward the door, Zexion following behind him. They teleported to the Superior's office in a matter of seconds, just in time to see a mass of darkness being devoured by the Heartless. Laska stood in a corner, facing away from them, with the staff near her on the floor. It looked as though she had just dropped it.

"Laska, what happened?" asked Zexion, being the first to speak.  
"The darkness," she whispered hoarsely, turning to face them with tearstained eyes.  
"What does that mean?" asked Vexen, oblivious to her tears.  
"The darkness drove me to do it. I didn't do it on purpose. I've never killed anyone before…" she trailed off as thick sobs gripped her lungs, starving her of air.

Vexen and Zexion glanced at each other, uncertain of what to do. Another person faded in before they had a chance to even speak.

"I need to speak to the Superior, where is he?" Axel asked hurriedly. Laska focused on taking long, slow breaths and tried to calm down, but Axel had just made it more difficult.

"You see that giant mass of darkness that's becoming Thanksgiving dinner for the Heartless?" said Zexion, pointing at it.  
"Yeah, what about it? This is important."  
"Axel, you clearly don't understand what is going on," Vexen said flatly.  
"I killed him." Laska's soft words nearly went unheard.

Nearly.

"Laska, do you mean to tell me that you _murdered_ the Superior!"  
"Be nice, Axel. Can't you see she's upset?" said Zexion.  
"How do you think the rest of the Organization is going to take this? It's not like we can just randomly pick a new leader! Xemnas was the one who created the Organization in the first place, and now he's _dead_!" He shouted the last part, causing Laska to burst into tears and run out of the room crying, leaving the staff behind. Axel glared at her as she left, then walked over and picked up the staff. It changed shape at his touch, turning black and red with a spiral of spikes running along the shaft. A shuriken adorned the top of it, glowing with a red aura.

"What should we do now, Axel?" Vexen asked, anticipating an answer already.

"Whatever I say. I think I'll be in charge now." Zexion nodded and walked out of the room, while Vexen waited until he was gone. Axel studied the staff. "Axel, you know what it's like to kill someone. Why were you so harsh on the girl?"

"Because I feel no regret. She has a heart. I have a shell of one. You should know that; it applies to you too."  
"Does it really mean that emotion is beyond your reach?"  
"Feelings, no. True emotion, yes. A shell cannot truly feel, only sense and imagine. You study that kind of stuff all the time; shouldn't you know all of that?"  
"Shouldn't you?"

* * *

She ran.

Away from the chaos she had just created.

Away from the disaster, away from the darkness.

_Away._

And she ran into Nexis, tears streaming down her face and eyes red and raw from crying.

"Laska, what-"

"You've got to believe me, I didn't do it on purpose, I was being controlled by the darkness, now something bad's going to happen and it's _all my fault_!" She cried so much that she started choking from lack of air. Nexis gently embraced her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. Her sobs began to become more infrequent, and she began to breathe more smoothly.

"It's okay, Laska, I'm sure that whatever happened, it wasn't that bad."  
"Yes it was!" She was in danger of crying all over again.  
"I need you to calm down. Now, slowly tell me what happened." She sniffled a few times, getting her emotions together, then slowly stepped away from Nexis and fearfully looked him in the eye.

"Well, I went to go talk to the Superior and he said that I chose darkness a long time ago. I told him that he was the one who made me do it, but he denied it. Then he said he knew a lot about the darkness, and he showed me what he looked like." She shuddered at the memory of the evil orange eyes.

"Then he said Axel was never honest with anyone, and that he never told me anything about Ansem or anything like that. Then we started fighting, and I used a Stop spell to freeze him after he said the Heartless wanted to devour my heart. Eventually, I..I.." she was barely able to continue.

"I stabbed him. The Heartless ate what was left of him; it was all darkness. Then Vexen and Zexion showed up, then Axel, and he was really mean to me and then I ran away." Nexis said nothing for a moment, going over the words in his head.

"I don't really know what to say, Laska. You said you didn't do it on purpose, that darkness took over. But it just sounds like you got really angry and couldn't control yourself." Laska smiled up at him. Nexis always knew what to say.

"There's something I need to ask you," he said slowly.  
"What?" He took a deep breath, staring into her glistening blue eyes.  
"Are we still friends?"  
"Of course. Why? What could have made you think we weren't?"

"You really weren't acting like a friend. Darkness isn't a good thing." Her smile faded as she glanced away.

"I'm sorry. But now I'm afraid there's no way I can get out of it. Especially because of what just happened. I've decided."

"Decided what?"  
"To give up my heart."  
"But Laska, that will kill you!"

"After everything I've done, I don't _deserve_ to live. I learned that if I stay in the darkness too much longer, I might get turned into a Heartless. Vexen told me he thinks there's a Nobody version of me that is in the light. If my Nobody could get my heart when I give it up, my heart would finally be in the light, and that's what I've really always wanted, isn't it?"

"That won't work. A creation of the light will not accept darkness."  
"It might work," she said quietly. He sighed, holding her at arm's length.

"There's a small chance, but why take the risk? I don't want anything to happen to you. It was bad enough not seeing you for seven years. Can you imagine how bad it would be if I never saw you again?" She stared up at him, two tears sliding down her face.  
"I'd rather give up my heart than lose it to the darkness."  
"But _why_?"

"It's inevitable. I can't get away from it, especially after what happened. Think about it, Nexis. How would you feel if you killed someone?"

"Like I would if I lost you." Unable to say anymore, she turned and walked away, leaving Nexis to stare after her sadly.

* * *

Larxene had gotten increasingly angry at Nexis's response to her feelings. 'How could he like Laska more than me? I'm prettier, for one,' Larxene smirked, 'and stronger, too. Why can't he just give up on her?' Larxene desperately wanted to wring Laska's neck, but the thought of how Nexis would react continued to delay her plans. As anger seeped further into her, she finally decided. _It had to be done._

Laska listlessly marched up the stairs leading to the fifth floor. She was observing the walls around her, attempting to distract herself from what she had done. No decoration, no ornaments...just plain white. For some reason she couldn't understand it; she found it very annoying. As she reached the top of the stairs, she was surprised to see Larxene walking down the hall ahead.

"Now what could you be up to? Chasing after Nexis some more, I suppose?" She let out a chuckle. Larxene's look became ferocious. "Because of you, he doesn't even notice me! You're ruining my chances at having him fall for me!" A faint sparking sound began echoing throughout the corridor.

"What do you intend to do? Fight me?" Her look said it all. Laska smiled without knowing it. "Good. I need somebody to take my rage out on." The room began glowing red, and the two prepared to fight. After a brief pause, the catfight began.

"Firaxa!" Laska fired a mighty stream of gray and black fire right at Larxene. She teleported above the burning ray, and with a cry, hurled multiple electric kunai at her opponent. Laska dodged most of them, but a single razor pierced her robe and shocked her right leg.

"That's it! There's no turning back from here!" A group of flaming orbs appeared and circled Laska. With a flick of her hand, they went right towards Larxene. She used her magnetic pull to suck in the flaming balls, and quickly fired them back at Laska, charged with electricity. Two of them struck Laska's arm, and one struck her right in the chest. She couldn't understand it. She used to be so strong...the darkness should be increasing her power. Somehow, it was draining it away!

"Hah! You are no challenge at all." Larxene used a quick Thundaga attack and hit Laska in the foot. Determined not to give in, she held in a cry of pain, but soon fell down to one knee. As Larxene continued to rain attacks down upon Laska, she felt weaker and weaker, weaker than she ever had before. She couldn't hold in her pain any longer. She let out a muffled shriek, but stopped herself.

"This is too bad. I wanted to have more fun. Unfortunately, it's over for you." Larxene suddenly took on a cruel smile, and waved her hand in the air. A spear of lightning hung from the ceiling, aimed right at Laska, who struggled to stand up.

Laska knew it was over. She knew she would die...and she wondered, would choosing the light have prevented this? Would she have lived? Would Nexis...still be her friend? She thought about this very briefly, and realized, 'He wanted to be my friend. He _wanted_ to restore our former friendship...not very emotionally, but he still tried…and I let the darkness blind me from the truth.' And with that, she felt even more sure that she deserved to die. "Let it come, Larxene, I will fight you no longer." She stood, facing Larxene confidently but sadly.

"Farewell, you worthless being." The lightning spear fell, headed straight for her heart. The suspense was killing her…

And then it struck.

Laska screamed, an aura of darkness flooding out of her heart. She began to fall backwards, and Larxene teleported away before anyone would know what had happened. But not before getting a small souvenir.

* * *

Nexis was lying in his bed, thinking about Laska. 'Where did I go wrong? What made her so angry with me...and why is she around Axel so much? I just don't get it...'

Very suddenly, various flashing images began appearing before his eyes. Pictures of Laska from their childhood. The two of them playing together...the bracelet...her beautiful smile…and then an excruciatingly painful jolt in his own heart. His eyes widened, and he let out a cry of disbelief. A heart had faded...a strong one. As his own heart raced, fearing the worst, he held out his hand and tried to look at Laska's heart.

It didn't show up. He tried harder and harder...it wouldn't appear. He couldn't believe it...he wouldn't. The look of despair on his face turned to fury and rage...his mind couldn't take it. _Laska was gone._

He instantly teleported to the fifth floor, feeling that to be the source of the disturbance. Right as he arrived, he saw someone falling backwards right in front of him, and instantly reached out to catch her. He realized instantly that this was Laska. She looked up at him pleadingly, tears running down her face. Her eyes suddenly turned dark, and she grew cold. Then she started fading, right in Nexis's arms. There was nothing he could do.


	12. Chapter 12

Nexis screamed, his mind in a state of complete and total rage. He screamed and screamed...huge bolts of electric energy flooded out of him. He would find out who was responsible...he would figure it out...and he would slaughter them. He was going to brutally massacre the one who killed his greatest friend...he would tear them to shreds. They would feel no mercy. None.

Nexis left the floor, teleporting to various floors rapidly, looking for any sign of the murderer. While he did this, he thought of how Laska had died. A huge gash in her heart, flooded with darkness, was the cause. He had noticed that the wound was not the work of a small weapon or a blade...it was much too clean, completely evened out. The cut was completely smooth. Lexaeus definitely couldn't have done it; his weapon was practically the size of a microwave! It was far too large to cut so cleanly. Zexion wouldn't kill her; he had no weapons... Naminé couldn't have... and Larxene didn't wield any real weapons! But Axel...his weapons could make that wound easily. It had to be him…but he had to be sure.

Nexis found Larxene in a room on the seventh floor. She was lounging around with Marluxia. Like they didn't have anything better to do…

Larxene was the first to notice him, and although she was a bit nervous, she greeted him. "Oh, hey there Nexis. What do you need?" She looked at him attentively. A moment later, he had grabbed both of them by their collars and slammed them up against the wall. "WHO DID IT?"

Larxene knew exactly what he meant, but before she could lie and live to flirt with him another day, Marluxia spoke. "Nexis? What on earth are you thinking?" he said harshly, not remembering that he wasn't the Superior-far from it, in fact-and had much less authority.

"I'm not going to say it again! WHO KILLED LASKA?" Nexis looked as if he had truly gone insane. "Killed Laska? Someone killed Laska?" Larxene pulled off a shocked look...granted, a very corny one, but just corny enough to work. "OF COURSE SOMEONE DID! I WOULD NOT LIE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

"Okay, sorry..." Larxene replied with a small voice, feigning innocence. "Well, I just found this out now, so if you're looking for the culprit, don't look at me." Marluxia caught the full blast of Nexis's unrelenting anger. "DIDN'T DO IT, HUH? I SAY YOU'RE LYING TO ME! DON'T LIE TO ME!" Now it was official. Nexis had truly gone off the deep end. Larxene caught the spark of untamed fury in his right eye, and knew that she had messed up. He couldn't think; he couldn't calm himself; he couldn't do anything but get angrier and angrier. Marluxia looked terrified beyond explanation. There was silence for a few seconds, and then he dropped them on the floor.

"If I find out that any of you did it...You'll wish you had never met me…" he said through gritted teeth. The stone words fell through the silence. As Nexis turned to leave, Larxene figured she had one last chance. She may have messed up, but he didn't have to know it was her fault. "Wait! Nexis!" He didn't bother turning. "I know how miserable you must be right now...and I can feel your pain. I truly can. And I want to help you in any way possible to feel better." Larxene waited hopefully for a reply, and got one...one she liked very much. "Thanks. I'll consider it. But believe me..." a greater hint of anger crept into his voice. "If I find out that you killed Laska...or when I find out who did...I will sic the Heartless and Nobodies on them and wait for their heart to be devoured completely!" Now Larxene was shocked.

"Are you kidding me? You can't control the Heartless or Nobodies! You can't even try! If you do, you'll lose your heart!" Nexis turned around, revealing a severely depressed look completely opposite of the demented one he had had just seconds earlier. "No. I have nothing to lose. And besides..." Larxene thought she heard a slight sob.

"You can't lose a broken heart."

* * *

Zexion felt it again. A really strong scent had just faded. It couldn't have been the Superior, so who was it?

He had a feeling he already knew.

He could also sense another strong scent moving around the castle, colliding with the other ones. It was filled with rage and fury, and he sincerely hoped he would not meet it anytime soon.

Yeah. Like he would be that lucky.

Nexis appeared in front of him suddenly, a manic look in his one showing eye.

"Hi-"  
"Where's Axel?"  
"I don't kn-"

"WHERE IS HE?" He forced Zexion against a wall, causing him to whimper in fear.

"I told you, I don't know! Probably in the Superior's office, that's where I last saw him!" Nexis froze, then let Zexion go. Instead of running away, Zexion sensed Axel was coming towards them.

Yep.

"Please don't hurt Zexion; he can be very useful at times." Nexis glared at him silently, barely controlling his rage.

"You killed her, didn't you?"  
"Killed who?" He clenched his fists.  
"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHO!"  
"Honestly, I don't know. Would someone care to enlighten me?" Zexion shrugged, still a little frightened. Okay, a lot frightened.

"You killed Laska!" Axel cringed.  
"No I didn't! Why would I do that?"

"Because you're you." Axel summoned his weapons, growing weary of this. Nexis likewise prepared to fight. Before any more blood could be spilled, however, Zexion intervened.

"Please don't fight! Neither of us killed her!" Nexis lowered his weapons.  
"So if you didn't kill her, then who did?"

"I can guess that it was Larxene. No one else really has any reason to. Haven't you seen the way she flirts with you? It's so annoying." Nexis's earlier rage returned with a vengeance.

"She said she didn't do it…but how could she have? Her small weapons would have caused a different kind of wound." He felt awkward describing Laska's injury, but knew it was necessary.

"She can manipulate lightning into any shape she wants. A sword, a spear perhaps?" Nexis looked down.

"That must have been it. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I have something to do," he said vaguely before disappearing. Axel looked at Zexion, who shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't get it either."

* * *

"LARXENE!" Nexis burst into the room where she had previously been, but saw only Marluxia.

"She's not here."

"WELL I CAN SEE THAT!"

"She went off to fight Sora." Nexis growled a thank you and left immediately, arriving on the tenth floor in the hallway. Larxene was channeling a bolt of lightning at Sora, and he was having a hard time escaping. She focused so hard that she didn't notice Nexis, so he attacked her with a short bolt of electricity, throwing her off balance. Sora quickly used a potion to recover from the attack, and stepped up to Larxene to deliver the final blow. Nexis stopped him before he could do so.

"Don't bother, Sora. She's not worth it." He looked up, confused, but backed off anyway. Nexis glared at Larxene, who lay on the floor, clutching her side in pain. She opened her eyes and forgot her injury the second she caught sight of Nexis.

"Hi Nexis. I guess Sora got me when I wasn't expecting it."  
"No, that was me."  
"You're kidding. Why would you attack me?"  
"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY!" She laughed nervously.  
"Are you crazy? I have no idea what you're talking about…heh heh…"

"Stop it, Larxene. You don't want to make me angry." She stood and raised her weapons to fight.

"Fine. You want to fight me? Go ahead. I'll still love you even if you lose." She smiled flirtatiously, causing Nexis to roll his eyes. He caught sight of something on her wrist.

"What's that?"  
"What's what?"  
"On your wrist." She quickly held the hand behind her back, hiding the object.  
"Nothing…" she said in a tiny, innocent voice. Nexis summoned her heart and, controlling it, forced her to show him what it was.  
"Larxene…that's…that's low, even for _you_."

"What? It was pretty, and I thought it would look better on me."

"YOU _STOLE_ HER _BRACELET_!" Larxene frowned.

"Fine. You want it?" She slid it off of her wrist and tossed it into the air towards the other side of the room.

"Go get it." He ran over to catch it. The blue glassy beads brushed against his fingertips just before it hit the floor, beads scattering everywhere.

It was destroyed.

Nexis could contain his rage no longer. He glowed a blinding yellow. Lightning bolts appeared everywhere, bouncing off the walls and ceiling. Larxene tried using her magic to control them, but they were unstoppable. Sora's only hope was to use Aeroga again and again. They kept coming after Larxene, and she wasn't able to stop them. 'I should be immune to this kind of thing! What's happening to me? AAAAAAAAAAHH!' She screamed but no sound came out.

For she was fading away.

"I can't believe you did that."  
"I didn't try to. It's just a really bad thing when I get angry."  
"But still…you killed her."  
"She had it coming. She killed my best friend, after all."

"But you killed her…that's three deaths in one day. Presumably a new record."

"Will you stop making a big deal out of it? So I killed her, so what! I didn't try to, she deserved every bit of it, and it's over! Done! There's nothing I can do now." Nexis stormed off, leaving Zexion by himself. He briskly walked down the hallway.


	13. Chapter 13

Nexis couldn't believe it. He refused to believe that his friend was gone. He didn't care that Larxene was dead; she meant nothing to him. But Laska…

Laska was a different story. She meant the world to him. For the first time in his mostly emotionless life, he cried.

Soundlessly at first, tears slowly slid down his face. His fists were clenched in anger as he wiped away the swiftly coming tears. He had loved her, he now realized. But he didn't say anything, and look what happened. His heart was broken, and he was certain it would never heal.

A comforting hand on his shoulder stopped everything.

"It's okay, Nexis. I'm fine," said a whispery thin voice. He turned, and there stood Laska.

Sort of.

She wore a snow white robe that matched the walls, auburn red hair radiant against the background. Here eyes were the beautiful coffee-colored brown that should have always been, and she smiled a little. Nexis gasped, confused. He tried to speak, but couldn't find enough words to form sentences. Laska spoke for him.

"Yes, it's true. I am no longer alive. I am now a shell of what I was, a ghost, if you will. But I couldn't just leave without saying goodbye." She stepped back, and Nexis realized that she had become translucent, surrounded by small silver swirls.

"But…how can you be here...right now?" Nexis managed to say. Laska still smiled.

"My spirit was not at peace. I also had to tell you something…I love you."

"I love you too, Laska." Nexis tried to grab her other hand, but his hand went right through it. He also realized that he could no longer feel her hand that was on his shoulder. She was vanishing in a flurry of snow-white sparkles, complete happiness filling her eyes.

"I just…needed you to know," she said as she completely disappeared. Nexis started crying again, but this time, tears of joy slid down his face. Laska was completely gone now, but Nexis felt no regret. He had told her what she needed to know, and got the answer he wanted.

"I know, my friend. I know."

* * *

I know, I know, this chapter was short. But I think it was a really meaningful ending. I have uploaded the first chapter of the sequel, and I hope you all enjoy it. It's called Black Light. I would like to thank some people here.

Cheezheister, a loyal co-author and a great friend.

Fatalfeline, someone who definitely wishes I wouldn't kill my characters.

WindofDancingFlames, I thank you for not killing me (you know why).

Fencergirl00, someone who hates Larxene as much as I do (I think).

I love CHEESECAKE, for the extremely helpful reviews.

Waldica and Ferocia for the short-but-sweet reviews.

And an unsigned reviewer, Naomi, who knew just how to get me out of my Writer's Block when I most needed it.

I look forward to writing more in the future.

Until then,

horsie890.


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